Collaborative learning and persistence in music education: Examining music self-perception as a mediator among adolescent students

Declining enrolments and low persistence in music education are universal concerns among music educators. Identifying social-cognitive constructs that might be predictive of adolescent student persistence may assist in the development of interventions aimed at promoting persistence in music education in a global context. Using quantitative measures, this study considers the relationships between collaborative learning, music self-perception and perceived task persistence among secondary music students in Kenya. Collaborative learning has been shown to effectively enhance students’ engagement by exposing them to diverse opinions and perspectives, which stimulates learning, persistence and performance. Positive music self-perception enhances students’ confidence, motivation and determination. However, peer appraisals and comparisons during collaborative learning may impact students’ music self-perception and how they are perceived by their peers, which consequently reflects on their learning behaviour. Results from multiple regression analyses revealed that collaborative learning and music self-perception had significant positive predictive values for perceived task persistence. The two variables jointly accounted for approximately 17% of the variance in perceived task persistence. Mediation analyses using PROCESS revealed that music self-perception partially mediates the relationship between collaborative learning and perceived task persistence.